Bill McClellan’s Sunday editorial, “To get care for their daughter, they had to leave St. Louis County,” provides a clear example of the effect St. Louis County is having on its developmentally disabled residents and their families by refusing to participate in Missouri’s Partnership for Hope program (PfH).
PfH is a unique collaboration between county developmental disability boards, the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and federal Medicaid services. The program aims to prevent individuals with developmental disabilities’ situations from deteriorating to the point of crisis by assisting with their transportation, housing, technology, personal assistance, and physical and behavioral health needs. Through the cost sharing mechanism, counties draw down 81 cents for every 19 cents they put into the program.
Before the implementation of PfH, there was a backlog of Missouri families waiting for help, forcing many to wait years to receive necessary services. Since 2010, thousands of people have been offered services that traditional Medicaid does not cover, such as dental care and employment support.
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Currently, there are 595 Missourians with developmental disabilities on the Medicaid In-Home Wait List, and 88% of them live in St. Louis County. Our county is one of only 14 in Missouri that have declined to be a part of PfH. This initiative serves more than 2,600 Missourians, and it is time for St. Louis County residents to have access to these benefits as well.
St. Louis County residents pay taxes to support the Productive Living Board (PLB), which assists residents with developmental disabilities, and this money could fund the county’s share of the PfH program. What this PLB does is a local matter, but the PfH issue affects the rest of Missouri because of the impact on state general revenue and funding for the needs of developmentally disabled individuals.
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Over the past several weeks, I have met with St. Louis County officials to encourage them to consider joining PfH. This program is an exceptional opportunity for communities to help developmentally disabled individuals live healthier and more fulfilling lives in a financially responsible manner.
If St. Louis County acts quickly, we can prevent more families from having to leave the city they call home to obtain the services their loved one needs.